Please Say
by Audrey K
Summary: In response to ZA Angels write-off challenge #1 Holly's category Theme:How Troy and Gabriella became official.


Exhausted and panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath, Troy felt a pair of small hands wrap around him from behind.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, quickly turning around and visibly calming from his prior shock as his eyes met hers- Gabriella.

Their late night phone calls had increasingly grown longer and longer, often times ending in one of them heavily breathing into the phone as sleep took hold, while the other (although neither would admit it for fear of being considered 'creepy') listened to the soft sighs with a fullness in their heart until they begrudgingly hung up.

"_Thanks again for helping me with my algebra homework tonight. I'd never have figured out those equations on my own" he smiled._

"_Your-" Gabriella sucked in her breath sharply, emitting another loud yawn_

"_welcome" she finished with a light chuckle._

"_You want me to let you go? We're going on almost two hours. I'm sure you want to get to bed soon…" his voice trailed off hoping she'd stay on the line longer._

"_Mmm? No…" she whispered, nestling her head deeper into the pillow, listening to his soothing voice as he continued talking._

"_So like I was telling you earlier, Chad and I got in so much trouble last year after our championship game . You know why Jason's left eyebrow has that strip of no hair, right? After we shaved them off, that one never grew back properly- just in that one spot. Weird huh?"_

_He was met with silence and frowned, hoping she didn't find his story too silly._

"_Gabriella?"_

_He listened closer, a smile creeping upon his features as her gentle breath traveled to his side of the receiver. _

_Easing down further under his comforter, time seemed to stand still as Gabriella slept. He wondered what she was wearing- a pair of cute little shorts? A tank top? Nothing at all? He grimaced a little as a familiar tightness in his pant bottoms stirred._

_He shifted his weight to his side, turning his thoughts to her angelic face. He remembered what it felt like when their fingers would coyly graze across one another's. Most recently, during an entire lunch period they'd held hands under the table without any of their friends knowing._

_What did it all mean? Were they a couple? Friends with benefits? No way was Gabriella the type to want some sleazy existence of a relationship. She was different, she was… what he'd always wanted without ever knowing._

_He sighed bringing his hands up to ruffle his hair a little and focused his attention back on the phone. Sleep was fast creeping upon his subconscious as he blinked heavily. _

"_Goodnight. Beautiful, Gabriella."_

_He hung up the phone gently, oblivious that she had roused herself awake just as he'd announced 'Beautiful'. _

_She lay on her side, a shell shocked grin plastered across her features as she once again drifted back to slumber, happily thinking to herself, 'he thinks I'm beautiful'._

"Congratulations wildcat!" she beamed!

"How'd you do?" he exclaimed, grasping her arms.

"We won too!" she squealed, instinctively pulling him in for a hug. As they loosened their grip from one another, their eyes locked.

He leaned forward.

Her eyes closed.

The moment they'd both been praying, yearning, and secretly trying to will into fruitation was upon both their lips.

Troy felt his body being yanked back and he let out an audible groan in protest as his best friend Chad clapped his hand on his back in a congratulatory thud.

Gabriella sighed, drinking in one last longing look at Troy, regret residing deep within his brilliant orbs, as their friends once again pulled them in opposite directions, expanding the unwanted distance between their bodies.

* * *

"Troy Bolton?!" Taylor squealed loudly.

"Shh, you said you wouldn't judge!" Gabriella lunged toward her friend, grabbing the bowl of popcorn from her lap.

The two girls were having a sleepover on a Friday night complete with facial masks, junk food, and scary movies. Figuring they'd spent the last two months studying non-stop and late into the evenings, they wanted a free evening to simply bask in treating themselves- they'd earned it.

"Gabriella, I meant it when I said I was sorry for interfering, but you made it seem like you were really over Troy."

"You think it's stupid don't you?" she pouted, popping a few buttery kernels into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully.

"No, not stupid. Just…" Taylor looked skyward searching for the right word as Gabriella huffed loudly.

"well it's just complicated!" Taylor exasperatedly sputtered.

"How so?" Gabriella asked, repositioning her body so she lay on her stomach, atop several pillows she'd taken from her bed and arranged onto the floor.

"For starters, Troy is always hanging with the jocks. He's a nice enough guy Gabs, but the boy is a bit…"

Gabriella rolled her eyes watching as her friend once again mulled over her choice of words.

"selective with who he's seen hanging out with."

"You don't think he'd want to be seen with me?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

"What? No! I didn't say that! It's just boys like Troy are complicated! All boys on the JV squad that I know of, have bedded no less than two of the cheerleaders."

"No less than two?" Gabriella repeated slowly, thinking back to the other day when she'd noticed Troy chatting with Jennifer, JV squad co-captain, outside of their homeroom. She'd forced herself to tear her eyes away as she watched the young girl stand on her tiptoes to lightly peck him on the cheek.

She'd felt silly later when Troy explained (without her even inquiring) that Jennifer's car had broken down that morning in the school parking lot, and Troy had offered to jump-start it.

"The record holder is Scott Mitchell. He's slept with four-"

"…in one weekend." Taylor finished casually noticing Gabriella's mouth that now hung wide open.

"Four in one weekend? No way!" not believing her ears. She was not one to gossip. At her other schools she'd never really made enough friends to gossip with, but this was a ludicrous idea.

"I don't want to pan Troy against what the rest of the team does. He's always been one, if not the only jock to always buy tons of cookies during our bake offs to help raise money for t-shirts, he doesn't seem to really mind that his dad takes him to school-"

"Well his dad said if he fixes his uncle's truck they've had in the garage for awhile, he can have it" Gabriella offered, remembering how excited Troy seemed at the prospect of a new set of wheels, seeing as he already had his license. The basketball season had just slowed down enough for him to start getting in a good hours' worth of engine work every other night.

"See? So that shows work ethic, which is good."

"What else has Troy done?" Gabriella asked, secretly reveling in hearing all the good deeds he'd previously done before she'd met him.

"He once dog-sat for Dakota when my family went to Florida for Spring Break. Although…" Taylor's voice trailed off.

"What?" Gabriella asked, sipping on her can of diet soda she'd just popped open.

"Well when he brought her over to our house, Troy was saying something about a skunk and he and Chad having some sort of camping trip. But, that's beside the point, we got her back all in one piece" she resolved, noticing the candid expression on Gabriella's face when she'd mentioned the skunk. Troy had done his best to bathe their Labrador in tomato juice to get the rancid smell off her fur, but they'd still had to have her sleep outdoors for a week following the incident.

"He doesn't sound so bad Tay. He buys cookies for a good cause, he has a goal to fix up a car, he babysat your dog. Maybe he's not like the rest of the jocks at school?"

"Maybe" Taylor shrugged, mulling over the various bags of candy strewn before them.

"He held my hand under the table at lunch on Monday" she whispered, burying her blushing face into the pillow she'd been resting on as Taylor shrieked.

"What?! How did I not see this? On Monday? I was sitting right next to you!"

Gabriella peered up, discretely nodding her head up and down.

"Gabriella Montez you little minx!"

"I highly doubt hand holding is very minx-like" she playfully laughed.

"How did it happen? When did he do it? Who made the first move? Why are you not talking?!" Taylor nearly screamed in anticipation.

"Whoa there wildcat, settle down. It was when Chad started re-telling that three wives jokes."

Taylor clicked her gums in annoyance, recounting the vulgar off-color punch line.

"He just kind of grabbed my hand and I didn't pull away."

"For how long?"

"Until we got up to go to sixth period."

"Does he have sweaty palms?"

"What?! No!"

"Big hands?"

"I guess" Gabriella shrugged.

"It's a yes or no question" Taylor tested.

"Well they are much larger than mine."

"And you two _only_ held hands?"

"What do you mean?" Gabriella innocently asked.

"No other under the table friction?"

"Friction?" she quizzically retorted.

"Hanky panky, heavy petting, inappropriate groping…"

"Oh my gosh! No! No, I mean we just, it was only-" Gabriella sputtered.

"It was nice" she quietly lamented thinking back on how he'd continuously brushed his thumb over her knuckles as she squeezed his hand back in response.

"We need a plan" Taylor announced, quickly getting up from her seated position and walking over to Gabriella's ivory desk in search of a pad of paper and pen.

"A plan for what?"

"Operation G.T.B." Taylor casually replied as she settled back down on the floor.

"What does G.T.B. mean?"

"It stands for Get. Troy. Bolton."

Just as she went to discourage against operation anything, her cell phone began to vibrate.

She leaned over, figuring it might be Kelsi whom she had texted earlier about a trip to the mall the following day. Vacantly, she flipped open her phone and pressed the small envelope indicating a new message. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she skimmed over the message, re-reading it twice to make sure she wasn't imagining things.

**Want to go to dinner tomorrow night? 8pm. I'll pick you up.**

**xx**

**Troy**

Taylor glanced up momentarily, stopping her intense scribbling when she noticed the ashen look on her friends' face.

"What's wrong?" she nervously asked.

"I think…" Gabriella gulped, "that Troy just asked me out on a date."

Taylor let out a loud sigh, firmly nodding her head up and down, confirming her earlier premonitions.

"Yep. Operation G.T.B. commence."

Although previously doubtful of how helpful this 'operation' may be, Gabriella quickly punched in a response, simply stating 'Sounds great' before joining Taylor's side as the girls began outlining possible outfit choices.

* * *

_**Saturday afternoon**_

"So you asked her out?" Chad blocked a shot Troy went to make.

"Yup" he grunted, seizing the ball before it bounced away from his grasp.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, stealing the ball back and lightly jogging down the asphalt toward the other net.

"Nope" he winced, jogging alongside his best friend.

"I call bullshit" Chad triumphantly stated, watching as the ball sunk into the net scoring him another point.

"Why would I be nervous?" Troy asked, wiping his brow.

"Um, because you have never had a girlfriend before."

"That's not true! I dated Sarah for like…" Troy's voice trailed off as he counted on his fingers how many weeks they'd dated back during their freshman year.

"-three, wait three and a half weeks."

"Your parents set you guys up."

"No they didn't" Troy objected (although knowing good and well they'd been set up on a blind date per the insistence of their parents whom had remained friendly since their own high school days.)

"Yeah they did, but whose keeping track" Chad nonchalantly replied taking a swig from his water bottle.

"What about Gretchen?"

"You mean turtle head?!" Chad exclaimed.

"Don't call her that, you always called her that even when we were younger" Troy half heartedly pleaded.

"What? She had no neck and looked like a turtle. I can't help it she was born that way."

"Chad…" Troy warned.

"Fine. But that doesn't count either. We were six."

"So? I married her on the playground."

"Are you kidding me? Pretend marriages in the sandbox are not only lame, they most certainly don't count as a 'real' relationship."

"Whatever man. I'm not nervous. Gabriella is really chill."

The boys resumed their one-on-one game taking place in Troy's backyard.

"Have you kissed her yet?" Chad asked, as he faked a left at Troy.

"Nope. No thanks to you" he coolly replied, executing a lay-up he made look effortless.

"I didn't know you two were about to kiss!" he defended.

"Yeah, the two of our heads being that close together was no clear indication of a kiss getting ready to occur" he chuckled to himself.

"You have a big noggin Bolton, I couldn't see past that large dome that Gabriella was on the other side" Chad made another fake pass to the right this time, smirking when Troy fell for it and clamored after him down the court.

"Shut up Danforth."

"Hit a sensitive chord, did I?"

"No, you're just being annoying" Troy slapped at the ball in an attempt to get it back.

"I think someone might be a wittle nervous about a first date with our new brainiac in town" Chad teased in a baby voice, as he sprinted toward the goal, dunking the ball while holding onto the rim swinging back and forth as Troy glared up at him.

"You're. An. Asshole" he gasped between breaths.

"So where are you taking her?" Chad grinned, easing up on the jeering as he released his grip from the metal rim.

"Ortega's" Troy replied as he and Chad headed back inside to raid the fridge for an afternoon snack.

As they stepped inside Chad genuinely asked him,

"So, are you nervous?"

"You don't even know" Troy confessed, closing the screen door and heading toward the kitchen.

* * *

_**Sunday night: Operation G.T.B. Commence!**_

"I think I'm going to be sick" Gabriella groaned as she wrapped both arms around her stomach.

"You are not, now sit up straight so I can iron out the rest of your hair without burning you" Taylor commanded.

Gabriella sighed and poised herself in an upright position as Taylor grabbed a handful of curls and began to rake them through the flat iron.

"Why'd you choose straight for tonight?" she asked as she counted to ten in her head, not wanting to scald the tendrils.

"I just wanted a change?" Gabriella shrugged.

"You don't need to change yourself for Troy. He likes you the way you are."

"I know…" her voice lingered awkwardly.

"But?" Taylor pressed her to continue.

"I want to look nice for him."

"You always look nice. Now inspect and tell me what you think" she gestured for Gabriella to look in the mirror.

She stood before the frame. Her long, dark locks now hung dramatically over her shoulders and back, blanketing her chest in a raven sheath. Slowly, a large smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and she grinned widely.

"You like?" Taylor asked, assessing her friend's reaction.

"I love it! Thank you." she leaned over, wrapping her arms around her friend.

* * *

"Chad if you call here one more time I'm going to turn my cell off."

"But then Gabriella can't get through if she's trying to cancel."

"You don't think she's going to cancel do you?" worry surged through Troy's body.

"I was kidding numb nuts. Are you going to kiss her?"

"I don't know" Troy hissed, attempting to comb through his locks with one hand, tossing them out of his eyes as the soft strands hung in his line of vision.

"Are you going to ask her out?"

"I don't know!" he exclaimed.

"Are you going to try and make any sort of move?"

"I. Don't. Know" Troy fiercely punctuated each word before jabbing the 'End' button on his cell.

The phone immediately began to ring again which Troy hastily answered.

"That was rude" Chad feigned hurt.

"You were being a bastard" Troy resolved.

"First base?"

"Chad…" Troy cautioned.

"Second?"

"Shut up."

"Third?"

"I'm hanging up now."

"Home-run?!"

_Click_.

* * *

Gabriella nervously zipped up the side of her short black dress. She glanced in the mirror for the umpteenth time that evening and jumped about a mile when her phone loudly resounded on her dresser.

"Hello?"

"Stop worrying, you look great" Taylor reassured.

"I can't help it. I've never really been out on like a date date."

"A date date?" Taylor playfully repeated.

"You know what I mean. A 'real' date."

"You'll be fine. Wear the black cardigan" she announced just as Gabriella went to reach for a pale yellow one.

"Not the yellow?"

"Do you want to look like a bumble bee?"

"Good point…" she lamented as she plucked her black cardigan from the closet. She watched as a sleek SUV came to a halt in front of her house.

"He's here!" she hissed.

"That's a good thing! Have fun!"

"But Tay-"

"No buts'. Trust yourself, go with the flow, and for the love of God just kiss the boy at some point tonight. Call me later!"

Before Gabriella could reply, Taylor had already hung up and she was left, staring out the window, squinting through her blinds to watch what he was doing.

She jumped, clutching her hand over her heart as her cell phone went off.

"Hello?" she nervously replied.

"Hi Gabriella, it's Troy."

"Hey."

"I'm outside, I'm coming up to the door now" he stated.

"Okay, great. Yeah, that's great" she clapped her hand across her forehead noting how ridiculous she sounded.

"Er- I'll be right down" she stuttered before hustling over to her bed, grabbing hold of her gold clutch and sliding her feet into the simple, gold colored flip flops.

As she walked down the staircase, she watched Troy converse with her mother and smiled.

He felt her presence and did a double take as she finished cascading down the last few steps. She looked like Christmas morning.

"You…" he quietly drawled, earning a discreet wink in Gabriella's direction from her mother to which she beamed even more.

"You look really beautiful" he finished, attempting to swallow, although he suddenly felt as if all the lubrication in his mouth had quickly been sucked up along with all feelings, rationality, and the ability to move as he stared at her long locks- which he already enjoyed their soft spring, but now fought back the urge to run his hands through the gorgeous strands that engulfed her chest.

"So where are you kids going tonight?"

Troy stared, not noticing her mother had spoken.

"I don't know. Troy where are we going?"

He blinked snapping himself out of his momentary gaze.

"What? Oh, we're going to Ortega's Miss Montez. What time would you like Gabriella home by?"

"I think ten o'clock sounds reasonable."

"Ten thirty, please?" Gabriella begged. Troy grinned noticing how adamant she appeared.

"Ten thirty. No later."

"Yes m'am. I will have her home by ten thirty" Troy offered his hand, shaking it firmly and smiling brightly at her mother, warding off any trepidations she may have but wasn't voicing. He was in no way, shape, or form going to take advantage of her daughter. He'd never dream of it.

"Bye mom, see you later."

"Bye sweetie, have fun" her mother blinked back tears, not wanting to embarrass her only daughter in front of her date. It was just hard to begin the process of letting her go.

As Troy opened the front door, allowing Gabriella to step out onto the porch before him, he glanced back at her mother and called out.

"I'm going to take good care of her. I promise."

With that, he smiled once more and closed the door.

Her mother wiped a stray tear from her eye, not feeling the need to watch the two walk toward the car, knowing that her baby girl was in good hands.

* * *

Throughout the meal, Troy and Gabriella exchanged nervous glances at one another.

Thankfully, the conversation flowed freely as they enjoyed a full meal of Italian appetizers and family style dining.

Gabriella gaped at the large bowl of fettuccini alfredo set down before them. Troy glanced over, chuckling at her facial expression.

"It's like Lady and the Tramp" she giggled.

Troy laughed as he picked up the utensils and Gabriella set out her plate as he spooned a generous portion for her.

They both twirled their noodles around their forks. As the went to take a bite, Troy stopped, noticing their mirrored movements.

"What?" she asked, not yet tasting the entrée.

"A toast" he replied, extending his fork out to her.

"We can't toast over noodles" she wrinkled her nose.

"Says who?"

"No one, but-" she lost track of her words as she saw the look in Troy's eye.

"To luck" he lamented.

"Luck?"

"We first met by luck, on the first day back to school luckily we had homeroom together, and without a doubt I am the luckiest guy to be here with you, right now."

The candlelight reflected in his eyes and her breath caught in her throat. All she could do was smile.

They laughed as their noodles thudded together in a 'toast'.

It was the best fettuccini either she or Troy had eaten.

* * *

Troy leaned back in the booth thoroughly stuffed from the meal. Gabriella hiccupped lightly, blushing as she quietly excused herself.

Troy smiled to himself. He loved that Gabriella had eaten two helpings of pasta. It annoyed him to high heavens when girls pouted, sighed, simply picking at their leafy green salads, and then complained how 'full' they were. Gabriella was most definitely his kind of girl.

Her hand lay across her lap as they lightly conversed with one another while the staff cleared their table and boxed up the leftovers. As if they'd been together for a long time, Troy reached over, lacing his fingers between hers.

She smiled, eyes downcast as she looked at their commingled limbs.

"Troy…" she began, wanting to know what it all meant. Did he want to be exclusive? Were they just friends? Friends who just sometimes happened to hold hands, get light-headed around the other, and nervously stutter while butterflies danced in the pit of their stomach?

He gripped her hand tighter, thinking the same thoughts to himself. Wanting to just say the words.

'Please just say it' she thought to herself as their gaze did not falter.

'Please say…'

"Do you two need anything else this evening?" their waiter asked, looking back and forth at the two as neither turned their head to reply.

"Just for her to be my girlfriend" Troy retorted, not noticing he'd voiced his inner dialogue aloud as he connected with her on a deeper level than any other girl he'd known, or thought he might like. This was more. It was something worth believing in

The confused waiter shrugged, asking the young girl, "Miss, would you like anything?"

"Yes, I'll have what he's having."

"Um, I'll just… come back in a minute" the waiter began to walk away and the two snapped back into reality.

"What?!" blurted Troy.

"Huh?" Gabriella looked around nervously, suddenly feeling her cheeks warm.

"Would you two like anything else?"

"No, just the check please. Thank you."

As if momentarily bewitched, the two glanced down at their joined hands, puzzlement across both their faces as to what just happened.

* * *

Troy pressed his foot on the brake, slowing his dad's car down as he approached the Montez residence.

The end of their date had been quiet. Neither knew quite how to bring up the confusing moment they'd had.

Troy argued in his head. He was not confused. He knew exactly what he wanted. He'd actually voiced it out loud, but it wasn't the way he'd meant for it to come out. He wanted to woe her, serenade her, buy something nice for her, and surprise her in the best way he could think of before asking her to be his.

He wanted everything, everyday, from this moment on to be shared with her.

Gabriella quietly unbuckled her seatbelt. She purposely avoided contact with his eyes, not understanding why he wouldn't just say it. She'd heard him at the restaurant, but it was like they were in their own little world. Now the harsh reality that he was a jock, and she was just the school's new nerd weighed down on her heart. She frowned thinking that maybe Troy Bolton was just a friend that she secretly held hands with under the lunch table.

He got out of the car, coming around the front of the vehicle to hold the door open for her as she gently lifted herself from the seat.

Their harmonious inner dialogue that had started back at Ortega's once again rang aloud in both their heads.

'Just ask her!' he screamed.

'Please ask me.'

'Don't be a coward. This is right.'

'Maybe you should just say it'

'Do it!'

'Why won't he just ask? Doesn't he know you'll say yes?!'

"Gabriella!" he shouted out loud, causing her to jump into the lawn a little.

"Sorry…" he gently whispered, nestling his arms around her waist, and smiling as he felt her body melt into his.

"What are we doing Troy?" she barely mustered the voice to say the words out loud.

"I meant what I said. I just need you to be with me."

Joy so sharp and boisterous almost caused her heart to explode.

"You mean like your girlfriend?" she playfully smirked, the smile dancing across her face already providing him with his answer.

"Yeah, like my girlfriend."

"Well, you haven't really asked. You just said you needed me to be with you. I am with you" she teased, watching as his shoulders shook from the laughter he was fighting to hold in. He was giddy as hell and didn't mind showing the effect she had on him.

"Gabriella, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked, his expression easing as he leaned closer.

She raised up on her tiptoes. Her body responding like a magnet.

"Yes…" she ever-so quietly whispered as their mouths met. His lips pressed against hers in a strangely familiar way- as if the soft crevices had meant to be glued this way all along. Eagerly, he opened his mouth, responding to the movement he felt her make to deepen the kiss. Tongues flickered, their hearts soared, and there in the front lawn, what they'd known from the beginning was a start to something new, finally became official.


End file.
